lawton



H. M. LAWTON TIME RECORDER J es. 1925.

-Filed Nov. 14, 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet l //W/v 70/?! M x. [W

A T TOR/VL'YS.

WI i June 9, 1925.

H. M. LAWTO N TIIE RECORDER Filed Nov. 14, 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 H. M. LAWTON TIIE RECORDER June 9, 1925.

Filed Nov. 14, 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 A rrrmwzns.

June 9, 1925. 1,540,848

H. M. LAWTON TIME RECORDER Filed Nov. 14,1921 5 Sheets-$heet 5 FAY ENDING MON TUE YYED THUR FRI SAT. SUN

and more particularly to time recorders Patented June 9, 1925 PATENT, OFFICE.

HUG LAwToN,'0E EE LEVIIE, KENTUCKY, ASSIGNOR TO THE CINCINNATI TIME RECORDER: COMPANY, CINCINNATLOHIO, A CORPORATION OF, OHIO.

TIME RECORDER.

? Applic'ation filed November 14, 1921. serialNo. 514,887.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LIIUGI I M. :LAWTON, a

citizen of the United States, and a resident of Bellevue,'in the county of Campbelland State of Kentucky, have invented'certain new and useful: Improvements in Time Recorders, ofwhich thejfollowing is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being bad to the accompanying draWings, forming part of this specification; 4 1

. My invention r'elatcsto time recorders which are fullyautomatic requiring nothing more of the operator than to insert his card and. pull down a :platenhammer, with the machine taking careof the remainder of the operations. My invention is basedon clockactu-ation ofthe time Wheels, clockactuation ofan abutment member for the operators card, clock actuation of an abutment member for a card tray locating piece, and platen operation of the tray locating piece. In connection with the card abutment I wish to refer for a more specific de'scription thereof to'my Patent Nor 1,253,185 issued JanuaryS, 1918, in whichthe advantages and structure offla continuously moving cam operator for a card abutment arefully dealtwiths- As noted'in' the said patent, I move the abutment ina continuous'manner and not by steps, and control the movement so that a it is rapid, at times of. the day when the vworkers aregoing in and coming out, and slow, or at rest when there is'nothing to register except in the most isolated instances, A W a In the movable tray card abutment type of machine, explained in my said patent, a card is used that isrule'dv with lines for days of the week, and theitime records are made in these columns that are-so ruled. The cam moves the card tray so that the position of indications of In and Out, and irregular registrations, hererules of the shop would show the operator to have arrived at a later hour orv left at an'early one, become quickly distinguishable to the time keepers, and this system of registration has naturally a? much greater flexibility than one wherein each registration must be made Within a given block or square of the card, and the card shifted for In, Out and Irregular, instead of being'shifted for days of theweek as .per my system. i

his the immediate object of my invention to apply an automatic card tray shift for machines-of'thetype of my former patent,

thereby, as stated,'making them fully automatic, but I do not wish my invention to be limited to the application of the card tray shift to one type of machine only.

In connection with the card trayshift,it i

is my object to provide for the least possible heavyduty of the'clock, and in this-connection I locate the tray by means of a prime mover connected with the platen hammer, and shift by means of the clock,

a device which has no duty whatever except to act as an abutment for this prime mover.

In the past there have been several methods used of shifting a cardtray, one of them being to shift a card tray locating member, which member was then forced by the platen hammer to do the duty of shifting thetray. Such a member had to have a rigidity of construction, which could not fail but hes. strain on the operating parts. Not only this, but the extent to which the platenhammer is relieved from dutyrenders the clock more useful, since a considerable strain on the platen handle renders all time recorders quiteqhard to operate under the most favorable conditions.

'I accomplish my objectsabove stated by that certain construction and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more specifically pointed out-and'claimed. 111 the drawings, -1 Figure 1' is a front elevation of the machine. 1' Figure 2 is a side elevation. taken from the platen operating handle side thereof;

Figure .3 is'a detail front. elevation showmg the preferredform of locating device for the card tray. @FigureA is a face View of the locating abutment disk. 5

Figure. 5: is'a development on a straight line of the abutment post arrangement in a normal -day of the week, machine;

Figure 6 is a detail side elevation of the operating device for the abutment member.

Figure 7 is a detail side elevation of the card abutment and clock connections therewith and with the card tray abutment operating linger.

Figure 8 is a front elevation showing a detail of another form of card tray locating abutment.

Figure 9 is a side elevation illustrating the means for operating the abutment devices of Figure 8.

Figure 10 is a detail .front elevation showing one form of slide block or tray locating device carrier.

Figure 11 is detail side elevation showing the parts illustrated in Figure 10.

Figure 12 isa face view of the form of abutment member shown in Figure'l of the drawings.

Figure 13 is a plan view of one of the cards used in the machine with various time data thereon. 1

It will be noted that I have not attempted to show in the drawings the various details of a time recorder, and that in each instance I have omitted the showing of the outer casing or the clock itself. The general principles surrounding time recorder construction are well known, and I do not believe it to be necessary to describe other than the newly developed parts invented by I have indicated the framework of the machine as 1, and the time shaft coming from the block (not shown) as 2. This time shaft (Figure 7) is geared to the time wheels, positioned as at 3, in front of which passes the printing ribbon 1. The time shaft is also geared to the large pinion 5, which revolves continuously the control shaft 6 for the various abutments.

Extending across the frame in front of the time wheels is a shaft 7 serving as a rock shaft for the platen hammer 8 upon which shaft the hammer is secured, said shaft being tripped or rocked by the operating handle, as will be noted.

The platen hammer presses against the face of a card held in the sliding tray 10. This tray comprises slotted side bars, an inserting slot and hopper 11 and a sliding plate 12, serving as an abutment for cards inserted in the slotted side bars through the hopper.

A cross bar 13 in the frame serves as the main support of the card tray, and the card tray support also has hooks 14 for sliding over the rock shaft of the platen hammer.

A bracket 14 extends out from oneend of the machine for support of the platen handle. This handle 15 is pivotally mounted on a stud 16 in the bracket and extends beyond the stud, where it supports a stub shaft or pin 18.

The rock shaft 7 which is in alignment with but terminates short of the stud 16 and is equipped with a nose 19 which serves as the rocker arm. Pivoted on the stub shaft 18 is a hook-shaped piece 20, which extends forward so as to bring a shoulder 21 thereon into juxtaposition with the rocker nose on the rock shaft. The shoulder end of this piece is held by a spring 21 to the operating handle, and a nose J2 on the other end of the said piece strikes an adjustable stop 23, held in the bracket.

This construction, which is not urged herein as novel, operates as follows: When the handle is depressed the stub shaft 18 is rocked upwardly by it, thereby causing the hookshaped piece to pull down the rocker nose of the platen hammer rock shaft. WVhen the abutment screw 23 contacts with the nose 22 on the hook-shaped piece, it can move no further in the same arc, as its initial movement, so that it swings around the stub shaft, thereby releasing the rocker nose and permitting the rock shaft to snap back under the tension of a coiled spring not shown, thereby throwing the platen hammer against the card in the card tray. The spring 21 brings the hookshaped piece back to its normal position, and the spring 9 returns the platen handle.

Pivoted on the stub shaft 18 is alink 25 connected to a rocker 26, and thence to a returnlink 27.

Erected on the base of the machine is a standard 28, whichsupports pivotally at 29 a yoke 30. This yoke has one of its arms extending outward toward the side of the machine and thence bent upwardly as at 31 and connected pivotally to the link 27.

hen the platen hammer is depressed in printing upon a card, the link 27 is depressed and when the handle is released, the link is raised again, thereby rocking the yoke first up and then down.

Extending across the machine from the standard 28 a shaft 32, which finds its other support in a like standard 28" on the far side of the machine. This shaft carries a slideblock. which in this instance is made up of ahollow member 33 carrying rollers 84 whi'h make an anti-friction bearing on the shaft.

Pivoted to the card tray which slides across the machine, as has been noted, is an arm 3% to which is pivotally connected a lever 35 extending downwardly. At its lower end the lever is rigidly secured to a yoke 36 which embraces the slide block 33 and is pivoted thereto at 37. The yoke also carries pivotally at its upper and lower ends on both sides of the block, a pair of fingers 38, 38, which are coupled together by a link 39, while the link 39 is also pivoted at its middle point to the sliding block. Thus when the slide block is thrust along the shaft be carried to a definite position.

To slide the bloclqthe first mentioned yoke is equipped at its inner end with links 4-0, which are pivoted to the block, tl'iereby forming a double toggle arrange ment, such that when the yoke 30 is rocked, the slide block will be moved. across the sup.- porting shaft thereon. The: parts are so adjusted'that wherever the slide blockmay be stopped by the fingers, the lever wil l be shifted until the toggle construction of yoke and links 40 will be in a straight. line, as not to block the final movement of the operating handle by means of which the toggles scribed. I

First describing the abutmentolements instead of their mode of operation, it will be noted that mounted upon the shaft 32 is, in the preferred form (Figures 3, iand 5), a disk 4-]; in which are set aseries of abutment posts 42. As shown in development in :F igure 5, these posts are arranged for seven days'of the week, with two posts for each day, which when arranged in the disk form are alternately longand short. As shownin development in Figure 5, the posts for the upper finger of the card positioning yoke and the lever are the seven posts on the left,

' while the seven posts on the right are for thelower finger. I

Asthe disk is revolved in-a step-by-step movement, the locating of the card tray is accomplished by I the mode of operation above referred to. The only work to be done by the clockis to turn;:this disk one step each day (in the present machine) which is done by raising a weighted pawl." It will be obvious that the same principles of construittion can be employed for the. movement ofthe' card tray instead of for days of the week for movements desired during the day such as to shift the card tray for In, Out, Morning, Afternoon'and Overtime.

Insuch construction, the disk withtliie stops would have to be "shifted siX't-iines during each day,and the days of the week wouldhave tobechanged by arranging the movement of the card tray abutment once each day, so also there might be fourteen chan per week arranged for the disk carrying the stops. Various shifting about of the operating principles of the machine could, as is obvious, be accomplished by the adjusting of the positions or changing of numbers of the abutment posts. 1 p

i I have. shown, a fornrwhereby the posts are held in place .hy nutsfl2 I'have also shown in Figure Land Figure 12 a: disk which insteadof posts is cast with periphare operated as heretofore deeral ribs 41, which. take the place of the pins.

Dealing next with the operation of the alimt-ment member noted, and also the card. abutment that slides in. the card tray, it was notec that. by suitable gearing from the clock or time shaft, I drive a large gear 5 which revolves continuously the control shaft 6.

On this shalt is a cam 43 for a particular description of which I refer to my former patent. This cam actuates the raising and lowering of a yoked lever 43 by abutting a pin 43 attached to this yoke. The yoke holds this pin against the cam by gravity and it is further heldin this position by a sprin member iel which tends to hold down the free end of the yoked lever. he yoke in turn presents a blade 4-5 to the finger 4-6 on the card abutment in the card t"ay. Once each day, in the present machine, the card abutment makes a complete cycle of BTlOVGIHQHtJUp toward the top of the tray and back again, this movement being variabie and in some instances intermittent, due to the conformation of the cam.

. The control shaft also carries (in this instance) a single finger 47, which revolves once a day with the shaft, and pivotally mounted on the frame is a rocker 48 which lies in the path of the finger, so that it will be depressed at the rear end and then slip past the finger with a sudden rise and consequent drop .at the forward end.

At the forward end of the rocker is a link 49* connecting it with. a yoke 49 journaled on'the shaft 32. This yoke carries the pawl 50 which operates the abutnientdisk. For this purpose the one arm oi the yoke extends upwardly as at 51 and is there equipped with a pin for mounting the pawl 50.

This pawl, controlled by a spring 53, rides over a ratchet 53 on the. sleeve 54- of the abutment disk ll.- The rocker 4C8 has a weight .55 at its forward end,-so that the control shaft, as it revolves, once each twenty-iiour hours, slowlyelevates the weighted end of the rocker by means of the finger Hand then permits said weighted end to drop'sharply. This pulls the small yoke 4C9 around the shaft 32 and enablesthe pawl to advance the ratchet of the abutment disk, one notch.

The disk, will remain in the altered position until the next pawl operation The pawl isstopped against a pin 56protruding from the'side standard 28 and cannot overthrow the disk, since the movement is not rapid and the pawl jamsslightly behind the pin 56.

Togive an accurate locked position of the card tray at the time when the platen hammerhits the card, Iprovide the following arrangement. On the card tray is mounted a rack 74, which is set on the forwardly extending arms on the tray indicated at 75.

The shaft 13 on which the tray slides is a rock shaft, and set into the shaft is a pin 76, which, in normal position, lies slantingly above the rack (Figure 7). hen the shaft is rocked the pin comes down against the rack and into one of the slots therein, whichever one is set beneath it by the positioning mechanism above described.

The teeth in the rack have V-shaped points 77 terminating in rounded portions 78, into which the pin closely fits. Thus when any notch is fairly under the pin, it

will force the rack along by sliding down the slanting face of the point, and then will find its final seat in the accurately placed notch portion 78.

To rock the shaft in such a way that it does not bring the pin down until the tray has been positioned, I provide a pin 79 (Figure 2), which is set into the shaft 13 at its left hand end, which pin extends rearwardly where it is pulled down by a spring 80. The rocker 26, at its hub, is notched out as at 26 so that it does not strike the pin until it has had some movement. hen the rocker is moved, however, by means of the operating handle, it will first move freelv about the shaft 13 until it strikes the pin 79. It will then rock the shaft clockwise (on its upward shift), and thus force down the central or locating pin until it centers the rack on the tray.

There will be as many teeth in the rack as there are shifts to the tray, and it should be also noted that when the operating handle is released, the spring on the pin 7 9 returns the shaft to normal, in addition to the action of the rocker notch. The shaft is stopped in a position to leave some free play to the rocker before it strikes the pin 79, by the pin striking against some protruding tray part or otherwise, as desired.

Itmay be observed that the construction described provides for the locating of the card tray in seven different positions under control of the time clock, but that the clock is called upon merely for duty in revolving a disk or the like. This duty is accomplished by slowly raising a weighted arm, that carries the disk operating pawl.

The workman places his card in the tray, allowing it to come down against the card abutment, and then presses the operating handle. This movement actuates the toggle construction made up of yoke 30 and links to shift the sliding block to the right. This movement carries the fingers 38 against their respective abutments, and stops the movement of the block 33 and lever 35 and fixes the position of the card tray in the proper position for the particular day. The toggles are of such length that when this point is reached, the central pivot of the toggles shall be in alinement with the pivots 29 and 37.. The actuation of the hand lever 15 at the same time rocks the platen hammer rock shaft to raise the hammer, which is released as soon as the card tray reaches its final position and the hand lever is fully depressed. hen the handle is released the sliding block returns with it, but the card tray lever merely swings on its upper pivotal connection and does not move the tray, which has suflicient frictional stability to remain in place until a.

new alignment of the lever moves it to a new position.

Dependent upon whether it is desired to effect the lateral shift of the tray for Morning, Afternoon and Overtime, In and Out registrations (six in all) and to have the card abutment move by steps through the seven days of the week or to have the mode of operation outlined, my tray moving devices will be set up and driven in exactly the same way and a full automatic machine will be provided. Thus, instead of but one finger on the control shaft, six fingers could be provided, and instead of seven sets of posts on the abutment carrying disk, there could be six, with the result of shifting the card tray sidewise for Morning In, Morning Out, Afternoon In, Afternoon Out, and Overtime In and Overtime Out.

I prefer, however, to have all registras tions for any one day in a vertical column, since in calculating time for a workman, it is easier to work down a column of figures than to calculate across laterally.

As a modification of my device for shifting the card tray, I have shown, as in Figures 8 and 9, a structure driven from the time clock by an intermittently raised; and dropped pawl, the operating parts being, however, omitted.

Thus the gear is driven intermittently by the clock through a distance in each step to completely change the abutment devices from one step to another. The gear 60 is on a shaft 61, which extends to the front of the machine and has thereon another gear 62. This gear meshes with the pinions 63, 63, of two abutment disks 6%, 64;, which are supported in av vertical plane laterally of the machine.

The disks have steps 65 formed on their peripheries, which take the place of the pins on the abutment disks, hitherto described.

Two standards 66 and 67 are erected on the base of the machine. One of them carries a bell crank lever 68, which is operated from the platen operating handle. The card tray locating lever 69 has its pivot at 70 on the arm 71 swung on the standard 67. The arm 71 projects laterally and is rollers 73for linked to the bellcrank by alink 72. The locating lever has a pair of anti-friction contact with the abutmentd sks. I

When theoperatinghandle is depressed, in this formof' device, the bell crank and linkare moved, which positively rocks the locating lever and bringsthe rollersthereon up against theperipheries of the two disks. This brings about a desired" align ment of the lever and' a shifting of the tray, and by revolving the disks one step each day, the card tray is automatically 10- cated, as in the first instance, and without calling upon the clockto domore than revolve an abutment. In this instancealso the location of the tray at :the time a printed impression is made on a card will be very accurate since the lever will be positively aligned prior to the release of the platen operating rock shaft, and the locating device will setandhold it in a precise position for a registration.

I do not wish to be limited in my claims that follow to specific mechanisms, aside from their usual mechanical equivalents in the art, because I have failed above to point out in each instance the possibility of the use of alternative but equivalent structure.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a time recorder, the combination with a time clock, of a movable card tray, an abutment movable in the tray to form a card stop, a locating member for the card tray, an operating handle for the re corder, operative connection from the handle to the locating member, and clock operated abutment means comprising a plurality of pairs of stops to contact with the locating member and effect a desired alignment thereof, upon operations of the said handle.

2. In a time recorder, the combination with a laterally movable card tray, and an operating handle for effecting time registrations, means for locatingthe card tray,

comprising a shifting member for the tray, means for moving the same by the operating handle, and a clock controlledi abutment means adapted to effect a desired position. of the shifting member upon being moved by the operating handle, said abutment means comprising a plurality of pairs of abutments against which the shifting member is pressed.

3. In a time recorder, clock operated means for shifting a card tray abutment, a clock o-peratedi abutment means comprising a plurality of pairs of stops, anoperating handle, a member connected to the card tray and to the operating handle, said member adapted to contact with both stops of the abutmentmeans so as to be given a desired alignment, upon depressions of the operating handle, and toswing freely without moving the card tray upon ret-ractions of said handle.

at'In a time recorder, the combination with a time clock, of a movable card tray, an abutment movable in the trayto form a card-stop, a locatingmember for the card tray, an operatinghandlewforthe recorder, operative connection from the handle to the locating member, and clock operated abutment means comprising plurality of paiisof stops to contact with the locating member and effect a desired alignment thereof. upon operations of the said llflll dle, said locating member being so connected to the tray and the operating handle as to swing free withoutmoving the tray up. on retractions of. the handle after opera tions thereof.

5. In a time recorder, a card tray shifting means comprising a lever connected to the card tray, means for moving the lever by the power applied to effect registrations on the recorder, and a clock controlled abutment device adapted to present a plurality of pairs of abutments to the lever to control its position at the end of the said application of power.

6. In a time clock recorder, a card tray shifting means comprising a lever connected to the card tray, means for moving the lever by the power applied to effect registrations on the recorder, a revolving device operated by the clock, said device lying in the path of movement of the lever, and abutments in pairs on the revolving device to enforce a given position of the lever upon its movement during the operation of the recorder.

7. In a time clock recorder, a card tray shifting means comprising a lever connected to the card tray, means for moving the lever by the power applied to effect registrations on the recorder, a disk driven by the clock, and a series of pairs of abutments spaced about said disk and extending into the path of the lever, said abutments being arranged so that two contact with the lever upon its movement during operations of the recorder.

S. In a time clock, the combination with a card tray and an operating handle, a sliding member operated by the handle, a lever pivotally connected to the sliding member and card tray, a clock operated abutment member, and a plurality of pivoted contact pieces on the lever adapted to strike against the abutment member upon movements of the operating handle.

9. In a time clock, the combination with a card tray and an operating handle, a sliding member operated by the handle, a lever pivotally connected to the sliding member and card tray, a clock operated abutment member, and a plurality of pivoted contact pieces on the lever adapted to strike against the abutment member upon movements of the operating handle, said abutment member comprising a disk set at right angles to the path of the sliding member, and a series of abutments arranged in pairs about the face of the disk in line to engage the said contact pieces on the lever.

10. In a time clock recorder, a card tray shifting means comprising a lever connected to the card tray, means for moving the lever by the power applied to effect registrations on the recorder, a disk driven by the clock, and a series of abutments spaced about said disk in pairs and extending into the path of the lever, and a tray locating means comprising a rack, and a pin adapted to be brought into engagement with the rack by the said power after the tray has been shifted by the parts above set forth.

11. In a time recorder, the combination with a card tray and operating handle for bringing type and a platen together on opposite sides of a card in the tray, a clock controlled shifting member for the card tray, and a locating device for the card tray, both said shifting member and locating device operated by the operating handle, and said locating member comprising a toothed element on the tray, and a rocking pin adapted to come down into a tooth of said element, as and for the purpose described.

12. In combination, in a time recorder, a card tray, means for slidably supporting the same, comprising a rock shaft, a rack member on the tray and a pin in the rock shaft, whereby the rocking of the shaft brings the pin into a tooth of the rack and locates the tray in positive position.

HUGH M. LAIVTON. 

